The long-running dispute over the right of students to form a gay-straight alliance (GSA) at Carver Middle School in Lake County, Florida, is headed to trial in federal court this week before a Nixon-appointed judge, the Honorable William Terrell Hodges. For some background on the saga, check out the short local news video and the list of earlier Youth Allies posts (below).

Nevertheless, I am inspired by the tenacity and courage of the students, their families, their attorneys, and their many other allies. I wish them much luck (though they shouldn’t need it) as they continue their work to overcome the misunderstandings, misinformation, unfounded fears, hostility, and bias that have run rampant in Lake County over this issue. Click here or on ‘Read More’ to view the full post.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has reached a settlement with Mississippi’s Moss Point School District in a case involving Destin Holmes, a student who faced anti-LGBT bullying and harassment not only by classmates but by faculty and administrators.Click here or on ‘Read More’ to view the full post.

The website’s development is not entirely on hold, but it has slowed down due to some other projects that are taking up most of my time. Still, I’ll continue to make periodic updates, and, as soon as possible, I will return to posting updates multiple times per week. (And in the meantime, I’ll still at least post frequent updates to the Latest News Page.)

To learn about the changes to the site as they go live—and for other updates and alerts about new blog posts—follow Youth Allies on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus, and/or by subscribing to its RSS feed. (What’s RSS?) You can also, of course, check for updates on the home page and main blog page.

If you’d like to help out with the site, or if you have questions or suggestions, feel free to fill out the contact form here.

In case you missed it, here’s a short film released by PFLAG in China, which tells the story of a young man’s coming out to his parents. News reports indicate that as of last week, the video had already been viewed 100 million times, which is a hugely encouraging sign.

After seeing the widespread news coverage of Leelah Alcorn’s tragic death, I updated this site’s resources page for suicide prevention.

The updated page, available here, has links to resources from the Trevor Project, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the International Association for Suicide Prevention, and other organizations; it also lists ways to seek support by phone. (La página incluye información en español también.)

For information on Leela Alcorn’s story, check out this post from the Human Rights Campaign, this story from CNN.com, and this blog post on Slate.

Mississippi’s Moss Point School District has settled a lawsuit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of Destin Holmes, a student subjected to pervasive anti-LGBT bullying and harassment.